The 2012 Vuelta is underway.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!! Go no further if you are going to watch the opening stage!
OK....well....seems the gremlins from the tour have slipped into the baggage and stayed with Radio Shack. What an opening...they come down of the ramp and Jani slips his chain! What's the team to do but wait? Klodi is still there, but they have no idea how his back will be...and if they are forced to put all their eggs in that basket this early, well...that would be a huge gamble. Great googly moogly! But hey.... it could have been much worse, as they regrouped and only end up losing 28 seconds. Other teams gremlins were far nastier...such as Team Sky's. Two of their guys collided with each other in the first k, leaving the team group with only 4 guys (they need 5 to stop the clock). 2 of the dropped squad eventually rejoined, but Wigg'O was so strong he kept riding the guys off his wheel....not exactly riding the 'US Postal' model of how a TTT should go.
And look at poor Geox/TMC....both Menchov and Sastre now 43 seconds off the front after their team finished 2nd to LAST!
But HEY!!! Look at Leopard-Trek! Winning the opening stage...(and it won't be Fabian in red tomorrow...that is reserved for a guy I've never heard of ...well, actually I have heard of him, but he's not exactly the type of rider that's typically getting heaped with glory if you know what I mean). That's kind of cool actually...one of the unknown's in red! Jakob Fulsang....he said there was no plan as to who should be in front at the finish, just do the best TTT they can. And he was in front with only 200m to go and was giving it his all, fully expecting to get passed....but no one did. And when the dust settled, they had won the day....BAM! He gets the red jersey. I LOVE IT!
Tho his reign in red will probably be short lived, being as they have time bonuses in this race...things will change very quickly I'm afraid. But every day will be pretty exciting as all the GC guys have to really pay attention to that little fact.
Well....it should be quite a race, and I'm sad that I won't get to watch any (well, maybe tidbits here and there on the weekends....IF I get up early enough to catch some online).
And so....the final Grand Tour of the year is off and running. And August will be over before we know it....and it will be fall. And I'll be another year older (early Sept)...rats.
Oh well...can't stop the passing of time. Gotta go with the flow and enjoy each day as it comes. Think it's time to go outside.
GAME ON!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The end is near
Well....summer has almost run it's course. Le Tour is long over, and the Vuelta starts on Saturday. Huge congrats to Levi for winning his 2nd Tour of Utah...must feel pretty good considering the horrific Tour he and the rest of the team had. I know summer is coming fast to a close, as it's dark again when I'm driving into work. Though to say summer is gone here doesn't really mean much, except that we might FINALLY get some decent weather. Our little pocket of weather here makes it feel like we live in the southern hemisphere...when it's warm everywhere else in the US we are chilly. The last few days have been sunny...which is a change. In the summer the winds shift and we get covered by the marine layer for up to half the day, sometimes the entire day. Once the summer weather moves on the winds shift back and the layer is pushed offshore and we start getting nice sunny days. Very strange area we live in. But we don't get snow...so there is that.
OK...so....who do you like for the Vuelta? I won't be watching it...I have cancelled my Dish package upgrade so no longer have VS. So this will be one of those races I just read about every day. Just like EVERY other race this year EXCEPT for the Tour. I don't even know who's starting, except that Thor isn't. Not sure if that is some kind of retaliation for his moving on next season to a new team....of course JV says it isn't...and we can only take his word for that. But Thor really wanted to do it...as does everybody else interested in a shot at the worlds as it's the prime tune-up for that. So he'll have to do a bunch of smaller races...which won't quite be the same. But I think he might have a real shot at the worlds...as the course seems to be suited for a strong sprinter/climber type...he fits that bill like very few others. Of course Gilbert will be there and if his season is any indication, he will be the favorite.
And the inaugural Tour of Colorado will take place during the Vuelta...which will be another BIG race for the US riders. For those of you going, I'm extremely jealous! It would be great fun to attend a few stages...I fondly remember the first Tour of Cali...(the one Floyd won?) The peleton rode right thru my area AND town...the finish that day was down in Santa Barbara. I saw them as they rode down hwy 1 in Guadalupe, then again on Clark Ave right here in Santa Maria/Orcutt as they were heading towards Foxen Canyon...and then we saw them yet again as they came down off of San Marcos Pass and into Santa Barbara. Rare to find a stage where you can catch the riders THREE times! Ahhhh....fond memories.
So...enjoy your vacations and take lots of pics! And JD, good luck on the autograph hunting! I sent you about 60 megs worth of pictures from this years ToC (only took like 4 days and MANY MANY MANY email attempts...who knew there was some kind of a size limit on emails!)...hopefully some of those will get you a good print and you can get them signed. You ladies can pull that sort of thing off where guys can't. Knock em'
dead!
OK..well....the doping front has been VERY QUIET this season...which is a good thing I'd think.....the ol' "no news is good news" seems to apply. Contador's CAS hearing over his LAST YEARS Tour Clen positive has now been moved up to the year 2037 I think (well, ok, it's this November, but at the rate they're going, they might as well move it to 2037). I'll be anxious to see what comes out of it. WILL they (the UCI) finally establish some kind of threshold? We can only hope so...but no matter how it goes, we will probably never know if he truly cheated or has been sucked into the black-hole of a crappy system. There are arguments both ways...but my rose-colored glasses say just give him a pass on this one. But that's just me...I know there are others out there (SUSIE!) who want heads (or more specifically, one head) to roll.I can't fault you for that I guess....once bitten, twice shy? I guess I just keep on sticking my hand into the big-dog's mouth. Some of us are really slow learners.
Alright-y then....that's about all I can think of at the moment. Oh....I have to give a huge congrats to Fatty btw for his sub-9 hour finish in Leadville last Saturday. That is a monumental achievement for a 'recreational' rider. And his wife Lisa (the Hammer) finished in around 9:30...which is ALSO monumental...on my best day she's still have crushed me (I rode with her in Davis and she DID crush me). I personally doubt that I could even do a 10 hour ride at that event.., and that's IF I could somehow endure the pain of riding my bike that long without becoming permanently crippled. I don't think any amount of motrin would help my neck after about 7 to 8 hours of riding. Ahhh....isn't it WONDERFUL getting old??
Well, that's all I've got...I'm OUTTA HERE (to bed I mean)...game ON!
OK...so....who do you like for the Vuelta? I won't be watching it...I have cancelled my Dish package upgrade so no longer have VS. So this will be one of those races I just read about every day. Just like EVERY other race this year EXCEPT for the Tour. I don't even know who's starting, except that Thor isn't. Not sure if that is some kind of retaliation for his moving on next season to a new team....of course JV says it isn't...and we can only take his word for that. But Thor really wanted to do it...as does everybody else interested in a shot at the worlds as it's the prime tune-up for that. So he'll have to do a bunch of smaller races...which won't quite be the same. But I think he might have a real shot at the worlds...as the course seems to be suited for a strong sprinter/climber type...he fits that bill like very few others. Of course Gilbert will be there and if his season is any indication, he will be the favorite.
And the inaugural Tour of Colorado will take place during the Vuelta...which will be another BIG race for the US riders. For those of you going, I'm extremely jealous! It would be great fun to attend a few stages...I fondly remember the first Tour of Cali...(the one Floyd won?) The peleton rode right thru my area AND town...the finish that day was down in Santa Barbara. I saw them as they rode down hwy 1 in Guadalupe, then again on Clark Ave right here in Santa Maria/Orcutt as they were heading towards Foxen Canyon...and then we saw them yet again as they came down off of San Marcos Pass and into Santa Barbara. Rare to find a stage where you can catch the riders THREE times! Ahhhh....fond memories.
So...enjoy your vacations and take lots of pics! And JD, good luck on the autograph hunting! I sent you about 60 megs worth of pictures from this years ToC (only took like 4 days and MANY MANY MANY email attempts...who knew there was some kind of a size limit on emails!)...hopefully some of those will get you a good print and you can get them signed. You ladies can pull that sort of thing off where guys can't. Knock em'
dead!
OK..well....the doping front has been VERY QUIET this season...which is a good thing I'd think.....the ol' "no news is good news" seems to apply. Contador's CAS hearing over his LAST YEARS Tour Clen positive has now been moved up to the year 2037 I think (well, ok, it's this November, but at the rate they're going, they might as well move it to 2037). I'll be anxious to see what comes out of it. WILL they (the UCI) finally establish some kind of threshold? We can only hope so...but no matter how it goes, we will probably never know if he truly cheated or has been sucked into the black-hole of a crappy system. There are arguments both ways...but my rose-colored glasses say just give him a pass on this one. But that's just me...I know there are others out there (SUSIE!) who want heads (or more specifically, one head) to roll.I can't fault you for that I guess....once bitten, twice shy? I guess I just keep on sticking my hand into the big-dog's mouth. Some of us are really slow learners.
Alright-y then....that's about all I can think of at the moment. Oh....I have to give a huge congrats to Fatty btw for his sub-9 hour finish in Leadville last Saturday. That is a monumental achievement for a 'recreational' rider. And his wife Lisa (the Hammer) finished in around 9:30...which is ALSO monumental...on my best day she's still have crushed me (I rode with her in Davis and she DID crush me). I personally doubt that I could even do a 10 hour ride at that event.., and that's IF I could somehow endure the pain of riding my bike that long without becoming permanently crippled. I don't think any amount of motrin would help my neck after about 7 to 8 hours of riding. Ahhh....isn't it WONDERFUL getting old??
Well, that's all I've got...I'm OUTTA HERE (to bed I mean)...game ON!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)